


Youth is Wasted On The Young

by betweenfactandbreakfast



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Bittersweet, M/M, short and sad trash dont even read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-08
Updated: 2014-09-08
Packaged: 2018-02-16 15:10:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2274432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betweenfactandbreakfast/pseuds/betweenfactandbreakfast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You were happy once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Youth is Wasted On The Young

**Author's Note:**

> small drabble about mahariel and tamlen. meant for male mahariel but can technically be read as any gender.

You were happy once.

You were happy, and blades of grass bit at your ankles as you chased fancies, Tamlen running behind you and shrieking shrill laughter into the warm air. You were happy, and Merrill, Marethari's irritating new apprentice, pulled your hair to get noticed while you were. You were even happy while you thought you were not, while you felt all the petulance and sulkiness a child is capable of because Master Ilen had chores for you, or Marethari had scolded you for rudeness. You were even happy when you stared at the roof of your aravel and thought about the parents who had left you, because you knew Ashalle sat outside blowing rings of smoke into the night sky, and you felt Tamlen’s limbs tangle with your own in sleep.

You were happy because you had Tamlen. You were happy when Tamlen looked at you in that way he had, that way that you never saw with anyone else. You were happy because when Tamlen called you ‘lethallin’ it was somehow different than it was for everyone else.

You were happy as Tamlen’s touches on your arm started to linger for far too long. You were happy, so happy, when Tamlen kissed you. You were happy and the leaves beneath you were damp and a twig poked into your back but still you were happy because Tamlen was there and warm and soft and alive. You were happy when you told no one of what you shared because it was _yours_ , it was yours and Tamlen’s alone. You were happy when you avoided Ashalle’s knowing glances and felt Tamlen’s hand on the small of your back to reassure you, “I am yours and this is ours and it needn’t be anyone else’s.”.

You were happy when the round faces of Dalish children stared up at you like moons and asked to hear a story. You were happy while you sat and did not flinch as vallaslin was carved into your skin, Falon’din, the friend of the dead. You were happy as Tamlen, beautiful with his own Dirthamen markings, spun you in a delighted circle, kissed the palm of your hand when nobody was looking. You were happy as the sharp breeze makes your still-healing vallaslin sting.

You were happy when you raced through the forest, Tamlen at your side. You were viciously, monstrously happy when your arrow sunk into the throat of a human, and Tamlen’s also met its mark and he fired a third. You were happy, flush with excitement and adrenaline still as you entered the cave. You were happy as you thought of reclaiming the elves’ lost empire, of regaining what was yours. You were happy until Tamlen reached out and touched the rippling glass and everything was lost to blinding white.

You were happy once, but not anymore.


End file.
